Get the message
by emergencyroom
Summary: A sociopath who enjoys watching his victims scream has targeted Special Agent Doctor Spencer Reid. What will the rest of the team do? Will they be able to save him? And what will be the aftermath?
1. Chapter 1

_I don't own Criminal Minds._

**Chapter 1**

"You're next… Spencer Reid."

The ominous voice echoed from his phone speakers. Doctor Spencer Reid swallowed a moment, before regaining a working mind set.

He had to rack his brain to try to remember how he came to the situation of watching a young man, about his age, be tortured then murdered. He'd gotten an email, sent to his phone, from an unknown sender, he unconsciously opened it, not knowing that the video that was inside was a man's dying moments.

He was, of course, disturbed by it, but the message at the end sent him over the edge. "You're next… Spencer Reid." The killer knew his name, he was a target. He was next.

"Reid?" JJ asked as she walked into the break room.

"Huh- yeah?" Reid stuttered as he shoved his phone in his pocket. He didn't know what the video was, but he wasn't getting anybody else involved.

"You look… Sick." JJ said as she walked up to him.

"I didn't get much sleep last night." He lied.

JJ looked him over for a second before shrugging and began making herself some coffee.

"So, find any new leads?" He asked, trying to turn the conversation towards the case they'd been working on.

"Not much. But we found out the killer has abducted somebody else." JJ informed him.

The case was rather grim. A masked man was kidnapping males and females in the young adult range to torture and kill them. They'd just begun on the case and where looking for ways to find out more about it.

"Male or female?" Spencer asked.

"Male." JJ said grimly.

Reid blinked. It was probably only a coincidence, but he couldn't help but wonder if the video he just watched was one of the boy they were talking about.

"I'll be right back." He said before jogging out of the break room.

"Where are you-" Was all JJ got out before he shut the door.

Spencer jogged down the hall and called Penelope Garcia, tech extraordinaire.

"Speak, young prodigy." Her voice echoed as she picked up her phone.

"Would you happen to be able to send me a picture of the recently kidnapped boy, and possibly reach his email records?" He asked.

"Sure thing, may I ask why you want to see his emails?" She answered as she began typing.

"I believe the kidnapper might have sent him a video." He replied, waiting patiently for her answers.

"Alright the pictures been sent to your phone." Garcia said as she began her search for the kidnapped boy's emails. "Viola, there they are. Let's see…" She began as she scrolled through his emails. "I have a video sent to him on June 15 3:00, four hours before he was kidnapped."

"Would you happen to know what's in the email?" Reid asked.

"Hold on, I'll just open it…" She mumbled before a small gasp came from her end of the line.

"What is it?" He asked.

"It's- it's a video… of a girl being murdered." Garcia whispered.

"I thought so… thank you Garcia." Reid finished before hanging up the phone.

He pulled up the picture of the kidnapped boy on his phone and examined it closely. It was definitely the boy from the video.

Reid shoved his phone into his pocket and ran into the conference room where the rest of the team, aside from JJ, was.

"…we need to assume that this person is still alive." Hotch finished as Reid stepped in.

"He's not."

Everybody in the room turned to him, "What do you mean?" Morgan asked.

"I have a video of him being murdered." Reid said grimly.

"What?" Morgan exclaimed, standing up from his chair.

"It was sent to me."

"Let me see it." Gideon said as he walked over to them and took the phone.

Reid didn't watch the video but heard the sound as the team watched. Gideon was about to hand it back to him, but the killer's message began, "You're next… Spencer Reid."

Morgan's head shot up to look at him, "Why didn't you mention the threat?!"

"It wasn't as important as the boy being killed."

"Yeah, but you could be the next person being killed." Prentiss argued.

"I didn't think about it like that." Reid stated, adjusting the messenger back on his shoulder.

"This is definitely the boy." Hotch muttered, handing the phone back to Reid.

"And Reid is supposed to be next." Gideon grumbled, rubbing his hand on his face.

JJ walked into the room, "What's going on?" She asked, as she'd only caught the last part of the conversation.

"The killer is sending death threats." Gideon muttered.

* * *

"When do I have to get him?" A small voice asked, trembling.

"When I tell you too." A rough voice replied, rather harshly.

"Are you going to have to kill him to?" The younger voice asked.

"If he doesn't get the message across." The man answered.

"But most of them do."

"_Shut up, _nobody ever gets the correct message across."

"Why don't you just do it then?"

"Because, the _people_ need to know! Not just me."

* * *

"Assign some body guards for Reid." Gideon ordered JJ as he turned and walked out of the conference room.

"I don't need body guards Gideon." Reid insisted.

"You do if you want to stay on this case." Gideon said turning around.

Reid didn't argue, he never liked being taken out of a case. Gideon nodded and continued out of the room.

"Did the boy that was kidnapped before get a video too?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, I already checked with Garcia." Reid answered.

"How long did the unsub hold James?" Hotch asked.

Reid felt a little guilty, he never took the time to learn the boy's name, "If my calculations are correct he held him for 18 hours or less. He went missing around seven pm last night, and the video was sent to me today at two pm."

"And what about Shirley?" Hotch asked.

It took Reid a second to realize that Hotch was talking about the girl kidnapped before James, "About the same time period."

Hotch nodded, "And none sexually abused?"

Reid shook his head.

"That's strange. It's usual for kidnappers to rape their victims, why is this one any different?" Prentiss inquired.

"Because it's not his motive." Morgan answered.

"And none of them looked alike?" JJ asked.

Hotch shook his head, "He doesn't seem to have a type."

"I think I'm going to go speak with Shirley's parents later, see if they know anything about a video being sent to her." Prentiss said.

"I'll go with you." Reid said.

"You're not going anywhere until we assign you some body guards." Hotch pointed out.

Reid sighed, he didn't want this holding him down.

"He's with me, I won't let anybody hurt him." Prentiss said.

Hotch looked over to Prentiss, trying to make a decision. "Alright, just… be careful."

"There! Do you see him!" The older man said as he pointed to the young man exiting the federal building.

"Yeah." A smaller voice answered.

"That is the one you will retrieve."

"What's so different about this guy than the rest though Tom?"

"This one will last longer."

"Then you won't kill him?" The weak one asked, a little hopeful.

"I'll spare him if he does as we ask."

"Excuse me, are you Mrs. Tyler?" Prentiss asked as an older woman answered the door.

"Yes, who are you?" The woman asked.

"I'm Special Agent Emily Prentiss with the FBI," She said, flashing her badge, "And this is my college Special Agent Doctor Spencer Reid."

"What do you need?" The woman asked, opening the door a little more.

"We'd like to ask you a couple questions about your daughter if you're able to answer." Prentiss said.

The woman looked at the two of them a moment before nodding and letting them in.

When they sat down at the kitchen table with the woman Prentiss began asking questions, kindly but in an authoritative manner. "Did your daughter ever have any enemies?"

"No… No, Shirley was very well liked, she had no enemies." Mrs. Tyler said, holding back tears.

"So she never received any threats?" Reid asked.

"What? No, not that I know of." Mrs. Tyler answered, becoming alert, "Why, was there a threat?"

"We believe your daughter received a video… a video of…" Prentiss fumbled with her words.

"A video of somebody being murdered…" Mrs. Tyler whispered, looking down at the table.

"Y-yes," Prentiss said, surprised, "How did you know?"

"She told me… Oh my God, she told me, and I didn't listen!" Mrs. Tyler's tears began to flow, "Sh-she told me she got an email… an email of somebody being killed. A-and I told her it wasn't real, that that kind of thing doesn't happen! I… I should've listened…."

"It's not your fault Mrs. Tyler." Prentiss soothed. "Anybody would've reacted that way."

"But now Shirley's dead." Mrs. Tyler sobbed out.

"When did you last see her?" Reid asked.

"Me and her went to the movies together… that was the night she disappeared."

"What happened?" Prentiss asked.

"The last time I saw her… A young boy, about 16, asked her if she could help him find his way to the train stop."

Prentiss glanced over to Reid to see him stand, pushing buttons on his phone. "I'm going to go outside and call Hotch." He whispered.

Prentiss nodded, before realizing the fault. "Wait-"

"It's okay Prentiss, it'll only take a second." Reid assured her.

Prentiss pursed her lips before nodding, "Just don't… Don't die."

Reid smiled a little, "Don't worry."

He stepped out of the house and shut the door quietly behind him. He looked down at his phone and speed dialed Hotch.

"Hotch." He greeted through the line.

"I think the unsub is luring the victims in." Reid said quickly.

"How?"

"I think he uses a ruse to lure the victims in, then… well kidnaps them."

Prentiss walked out of the house briskly, "Mrs. Tyler said the boy that Shirley spoke with was timid and sounded shy."

"That probably means it's a partnership" Hotch said through the phone.

"Or a good actor." Prentiss added, shaking her head.

Hotch hung up the phone with a click.

"Agent Prentiss!" Mrs. Tyler called from the door.

"Yes?" Prentiss said turning around.

"I think I could give you a description of the boy."

"Really? That's great-" Prentiss began, before hearing a loud thud crash off the right of them. "What in the…" She muttered walking over there.

Reid followed close behind her, hand on gun. There was a movement on the other side.

Prentiss walked slowly towards the trees, "FBI put your hands where we can see them."

"Get up!" A gruff voice urged.

"Stop moving! Put your hands up!" Prentiss repeated.

There was pounding of feet, Prentiss ran into the trees and saw two people running away. She lowered her gun in defeat, "Damn it."

"Hey, it could've been anybody." Reid assured her.

Prentiss shook her head and walked back towards Mrs. Tyler, "Sorry ma'am, could you give me a description?"

Mrs. Tyler glanced at the trees once more before nodding and began her description of a young boy with light blond hair, tall, and pale.

"I think it's a partnership." Prentiss said as the stepped into the car.

"And if who we saw where the unsubs… then they might be revisiting the homes of their victims." Reid said.

"Or following their next." Prentiss muttered.

* * *

"They almost got us!" The man yelled.

"I-I'm sorry!" The younger pleaded.

"Sorry isn't good enough when you're in jail Dalton!"

"I know… I'm sorry…"

After a long pause the older said, "It's time."

"No, please! I don't want to."

"You need to take control!"

"I- I don't want control."

"No, but you need it, because when I'm gone, you're all by yourself."

"Does that mean I have to kill people though?"

"Dalton, the message must be sent."

"And this one can send it?"

"Possibly."

* * *

"Anything?" JJ asked as Prentiss and Reid stepped out of the car.

"We've got a possible description of one of the unsubs." Prentiss informed.

Prentiss and JJ walked quickly into the building, but Reid stayed behind a moment. He looked around, noticing the cover of thick clouds beginning to form, rain was a for sure. He glanced over to the side of the parking lot. A man with binoculars was sitting behind a bush, not even trying to look inconspicuous. Reid furrowed his brows before walking quickly towards the building.

"Reid!" Gideon called from behind him, on the other side of the parking lot.

Reid whirled around, "Yeah?"

Gideon walked towards him, "You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Reid said quickly, casting a glance to where he saw the man before. He was gone. Reid swallowed and looked back to Gideon, "Do you want to step inside?"

"Sure."

As the day went on they found James's body under a bridge.

"Reid let me see that video again." Gideon said.

Reid pulled out his phone and handed it to Gideon, opening the video.

Gideon watched the video and began to look at the surroundings. "It looks like he's in a barn, or old cabin."

"How can you tell?" Hotch asked.

"There are lines of light in the wall. Obviously meaning that it's wood, but old. This person lives somewhere rural, able to do anything he wants, no matter how loud." Gideon said.

Prentiss quickly dialed Garcia. "Speak."

"Garcia, could you get a map of rural Georgia for us?" Reid asked.

"Anything for you baby boy." She said as she typed

"Can you find any rural areas around where we're located?" Hotch asked.

"It looks like… there is a very large area of unpopulated grounds about 15 miles from you."

"Thanks Garcia." JJ said, hanging up.

"That'll take hours to search." Prentiss groaned.

"Maybe we don't have to… if the video was sent to me at two pm today and the sun was shining through one of the slates in the wall it showed it was sunset or morning…" Reid said, thinking out loud.

"Meaning he didn't send the video right away." Hotch finished.

The team broke off to try and work on their projects.

Reid worked for a while longer until he felt extremely suffocated in the room he was occupying. He stepped into the dark parking lot, and let himself take a deep breath. This case was frustrating and killing him. Everywhere he went he hit dead ends.

"Um… Excuse me sir?" A small voice asked.

Reid turned and saw a young boy, all he could make out was that he was tall and pale.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you could help me." He asked.

"What do you need?" Reid answered.

"My friends and I were out tonight and we were walking to my friend's house, but when we got there she said she had to pick up the pizza, but she never came back."

"Are you sure she didn't just go home?" Reid asked.

"I'm sure, we've called her and we went to her house and the pizza place… but I just can't find her and I'm really worried."

"Hey, it's okay…" Reid began.

"Dalton! I found her! Hurry she's hurt!" Another voice yelled from the trees.

The boy, Dalton, quickly turned and ran towards the trees. Reid ran after him on instinct, but when he was about to run into the wood Dalton disappeared.

Reid skidded to a halt only a few feet into the woods, looking around. "Dalton?" He called.

Suddenly the side of his face stung and he was flung to the side. "Tie him." The unknown voice from earlier ordered.

"I- I don't wanna." Dalton stuttered.

"Then get out of here! Get in the car!" The man whispered furiously.

Reid blinked rapidly, trying to gain consciousness. _Shit my cheek_. Suddenly his arms where jerked behind him and hands bound, and his ankles where pulled together tightly bye rope.

"You need to gain some pounds skinny kid." The man said, slinging Reid over his shoulder.

Reid's world spun as he was flipped upside down. He was moved quickly towards the far end of the parking lot. He racked his brain to find a way to alert his team mates of his sudden departure. He felt around his back pocket for his cell phone. Feeling extremely relieved when he saw he had it he pulled it out and searched for his power button. Finding it, he pressed it, knowing it powered on he let his fingers press the buttons for Gideon's speed dial.

"Gideon." He answered, the voice a bit louder than Reid had intended.

"What the hell!?" The man carrying him yelled.

"Gideon! I'm outside in the parking lot! Hurry!" Reid yelled before the phone was smacked out of his hand.

The man carrying him began to run.

"Gideon! Hotch!" Reid yelled as he looked up to the federal building.

"Shut up!" The man ordered.

Reid saw the front door fly open before being thrown into a trunk of a car. "Gideo-" Was all he got out before the trunk slammed shut.

Gideon heard only the beginning of his name from the other side of the parking lot, "Over there!" He yelled to Hotch as they ran across the parking lot, only to see a black sedan peel away.

The two looked at the car in complete horror as it sped away. They were speechless… they couldn't save him.

* * *

**End of the first chapter! It may be a bit messy but it's getting exciting so I'm freaking out.**

**Thanks for reading and please review~ ER**


	2. Chapter 2

_I don't own Criminal Minds._

**Chapter 2**

Reid pounded on the roof of the trunk as hard as he could, knowing it would do nothing, but purely out of rage.

"Dalton!" He yelled. "I know you're up there!"

The radio of the car began to blare in an attempt to drown out his shouts. "Who is he? Why are you still hanging around him? Does he hurt you?" Reid yelled even louder.

He began to grow tired as the drive continued. His face hurt like hell. And he eventually fell into an unintentional unconscious state.

* * *

"We had him! We had our killer and he got away!" Gideon cursed as Hotch followed him back into the federal building.

"Yeah, with Reid." Hotch muttered.

"What?" Prentiss asked, hearing Hotch's statement.

Hotch turned to Prentiss and looked to Gideon for a moment before saying, "He got Reid."

Prentiss's face filled with shock, "No…"

"We're going to get him!" Gideon yelled as he walked away.

"What's going on?" Morgan asked as he walked up to Hotch and Emily.

"Reid…" Prentiss mumbled, she couldn't say it.

But maybe she didn't have to. Morgan's shoulders slackened, "You're kidding…"

Hotch pursed his lips and shook his head.

"That bastard's gonna pay." Morgan cursed.

* * *

"Wake up!" A rough voice ordered, shaking Spencer Reid from his dreamless sleep.

Reid blinked a couple of times before his eyes adjusted and he saw a tall, dark haired man standing in front of him. Reid, on the other hand, was laying on the floor in the middle of a dirty basement, lit only by a dangling light bulb on a string.

"I think you need some stage time." He said.

"Wh-what?" Reid mumbled closing his eyes.

"You heard me! You're going to send my message out to the whole world. And everybody's going to know that I got an FBI agent in my hands."

"More like paws…" Reid muttered.

"What was that pretty boy?!" The man yelled before kicking him in the ribs.

Reid yelped in pain as he flew to his opposite side. "Nothing." He choked out.

"That's what I thought!" The unsub said, before walking out of Reid's line of sight.

Reid's vision blurred as he tried to focus again. What he saw when his eyes finally focused made him want to scream, if he could. A wall of knives.

"Are you going to stand or am I going to have to make you?" The man asked.

Reid swallowed and tried to push himself off the ground, but his ribs screamed in pain. Reid recoiled in pain, not able to hide his discomfort.

"Have it your way." The man muttered.

Suddenly Reid was pushed upwards, his side didn't really have a chance to process the pain before he was being held in a standing position. His arms where pulled above his heads and tied to the ceiling, his side disagreed.

"P-please…" He choked out, "Please don't do this."

"It needs to happen." The man insisted, tying the knot on the ropes above Reid's head.

"No- no it doesn't…. Please… please stop…" Reid pleaded.

The man simply looked at the boy. "You have to send my message."

Reid looked back at the man, "What message?"

"You will know when you look the part." The man said before walking off to their right.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Reid asked. Worry filling his voice, he saw the wall of knives earlier, but he wasn't walking towards there.

The man returned with a camcorder, setting it down in front of Reid. Reid looked at the camera a second before he whispered, "What's your name?"

"Tom." The man answered.

"Why are you doing this Tom?" Reid asked quietly.

"Because nobody listens." Tom began to sound angry.

"I will." Reid said.

"No, you're going to make them listen."

Reid bit the inside of his cheek. "How?"

"They care about their boy. If they want him alive they'll listen."

"What am I saying?" Reid asked.

"I said I'll tell you when we get started!" Tom yelled as he walked over to the wall of knives.

Suddenly a small stream of light leaked into the room. "Tom… are you about to start?"

"Yes Dalton." Tom muttered.

"Can I talk you out of it?" Dalton asked.

"Can you ever?" Tom retorted.

There was silence from Dalton.

Tom went to work on sharpening the knives and Dalton walked over to Reid. "I'm so sorry…"

Reid glanced over at the boy and granted him a small smile, "Who is he to you?"

Dalton looked to the ground a moment before finally saying, "My brother."

* * *

JJ was sitting in the conference room, watching her press conference on the news. They weren't streaming it live, instead they included the profile with the regular news broadcast. Just as JJ was about to turn it off the screen turned blue. She stepped towards it, wondering if the satellite had broken. Suddenly an image started to flash onto the screen. JJ couldn't make out what it was completely, but she saw a person lit only by one light. Slowly the image stopped flashing and came into view. JJ's breath hitched as she saw what it was.

"Hotch!" She yelled.

Hotch came running into the room, alerted by the alarm in JJ's voice. "What is it?" He asked.

JJ looked close to tears as she pointed up to the TV screen.

"Reid…" Hotch cursed.

Morgan's voice echoed from in the hallway, "What the hell!?"

Hotch turned to see Morgan and Prentiss standing in the doorway.

"Is this streaming for everybody?!" Prentiss exclaimed.

"I- I don't know…" JJ stuttered.

"Get Garcia on the phone, see if she can track where this is streaming from." Hotch said.

Prentiss turned around and began talking to her.

Suddenly a masked man walked onto the screen. "Say it."

Reid's mouth opened and closed in a desperate attempt to speak, but nothing came out.

"_Say it_" the man repeated.

"…Satan will prevail…" Reid whispered.

"You don't mean it!" The man yelled. Stepping towards Reid, he raised a hand and slapped him hard across the cheek.

Reid yelped in pain, not bothering to say anything else. Suddenly the man grabbed a knife.

"Prentiss is this on everybody's TV?!" Morgan repeated quickly.

Prentiss said a couple things quickly into the phone. "Garcia says that it's not only on everybody's TV, but on every channel." She said grimly.

"Shut it down!" Gideon yelled as he walked briskly through the door.

Garcia's voice sounded frantic over the speaker of Prentiss's phone. "I'm trying, but every time I delete it from the system it just reboots."

"Do something! Anything!" Gideon ordered.

The team watched the screen as Reid's captor raised the knife. JJ closed her eyes and buried her head in Morgan's shoulder, "Spence…" She whispered helplessly.

Morgan placed a soft hand on her head, not looking away from the screen.

The captor cut a thin line below Reid's collar bone, drawing blood. Reid closed his eyes and tried to bear the pain.

"Garcia," Hotch said warningly.

"I can override it with another video!" She said quickly.

"Do it!" Gideon said.

Suddenly Reid and the captor disappeared from the screen, being replaced with an infomercial.

The team all breathed a sigh of relief, and almost felt better until Morgan said, "He's still suffering."

Everybody nodded and they all ran out of the room to gather evidence.

* * *

"Say it again!" Tom demanded.

"I would… but it seems your show has been stopped." Reid said through gritted teeth.

"What?!" Tom whirled around to look at the monitor. An infomercial was playing. "No! Those fools! You made them do this, didn't you!"

"No, I- I didn't do anything!" Reid said quickly, becoming more and more afraid.

"You sent them your little mind messages! Didn't you!"

"No, I have no contact with them." Reid tried to rationalize.

"_I don't believe you_." Tom snarled before punching him in the gut then walking out of the room.

After that Reid was left to his thoughts, fears, and pain.

* * *

"Garcia, where was the video being sent from?" Hotch asked into the phone.

"It doesn't show an exact location for some odd reason… But it shows a general area." Garcia said, working diligently.

"Send us a map of it." Gideon said, "I want people searching that area high and low."

"What I can't stop thinking about is that he had Reid say, 'Satan will prevail'. What's that supposed to mean?" Prentiss asked.

"It means he's trying to gain our attention. He most likely has a message to send us." Hotch said.

"So he took Reid to do it?" Morgan inquired.

"He took Reid to gain our attention as well. He took the youngest, but smartest, of all of us." Gideon said, scratching his chin.

"Then what's his message?" Morgan asked.

"That I don't know." Gideon said, defeated.

* * *

Reid was awoken by suddenly hitting the floor. "Gah!"

"Sorry… I didn't mean to scare you." A blurry Dalton said over him.

"It's fine… Thanks for cutting me down." Reid said.

Dalton nodded and walked over to the corner with the knives in it. Reid watched him, not the least bit worried. Dalton couldn't hurt him. But to Reid's surprise Dalton grabbed a knife.

"Dalton, you don't have to do this." Reid begged, backing up against the wall.

"I do though…" He said quietly.

"No, you have a choice Dalton! You can leave, and you can take me with you."

"I can't leave Tom."

"Why?"

"He's going to leave soon, so I need to take care of him."

Reid became confused. "What do you mean?"

"Tom will leave. But until then I need to make sure he's okay."

"Where's Tom going?" Reid asked softly.

Dalton looked away. "He said he had to take a trip to speak with our mom."

"Where is your mom?" Reid was trying to keep Dalton from thinking about hurting him.

"Dead…" Dalton whispered.

Reid suddenly understood. "How long does Tom have Dalton?" He asked.

Dalton swallowed. "They said less than a year."

"But it'll be just you then Dalton, and you don't want to continue hurting people." Reid persuaded.

"No, I don't want to hurt anybody."

"Then why are you going to hurt me?" Reid asked.

"Because Tom told me to." Dalton began walking towards him.

Reid shook his head. "Are you going to kill me?"

"No, Tom always does that."

"You don't want to do this Dalton." Reid said.

"I know."

Reid racked his brain for ideas. When finally, he thought of something. "Then let me do it."

Dalton stopped walking, "What?"

"Let me hurt myself, and pretend you did it."

"You'd do that?"

"If it meant helping you, yes."

Dalton looked at the knife in his hand, thinking. "Alright," He said finally, "Please don't kill yourself though, I'll get in trouble."

"I just have one question." Reid said, taking the knife.

"Yes?"

"Where are we?"

Dalton smiled, "Hell."

* * *

"The person killing is probably not a person but a persons." Morgan said to a group of police officers.

"One will be younger, quiet, and submissive." Prentiss continued.

"The other will be outgoing and ready to attack you if threatened." Hotch said.

"You will have to look for a barn, or workshop. Someplace secluded, a place where nobody can hear another person scream." Morgan said.

"We are thinking of an older barn. Somewhere that isn't completely surrounded by trees, you need to be able to see the sun setting or rising." Hotch finished off.

Gideon turned to the group, his hands clasped, "You have been paired with two other officers to search a designated area on your map. Search there and only there, don't step out of your boundaries."

The group of cops complied before splitting up. They'd met on the outskirts of their search area so they went straight to it.

Gideon and Hotch set off on the far end of the woods. They looked for clearings or open areas in the trees. "This area is completely covered; I don't know where you could see the sun." Gideon muttered.

Suddenly their Walky-talky's crackled with the sound of somebody.

"Did you think you could get me?"

Gideon was first to react. "Who is this, what unit are you in?"

"This… Is… Salvation."

Hotch yanked his cellphone from his pocket. "Prentiss. Where is the cop you're paired with?"

"Right here. Why?" She responded.

Hotch didn't answer her as he hung up. "Morgan. Where's your partner."

"He's checking on the other side of the hill. Why?"

"Go there."

The crunching of grass filled the speakers as Morgan ran to the other side of the hill.

"Shit." He cursed through the speakers.

"What is it?" Hotch asked.

"I need a medic!" Morgan yelled, not particularly into the phone.

"Gideon." Hotch said as they ran to Morgan's quadrant.

When they arrived Morgan was sitting on the top of the hill. While on the other side an officer was being loaded into an ambulance. "What happened?" Gideon asked Morgan as he sat down next to him.

Morgan tapped his knee, looking at the trees in front of him as he spoke, "He said he wanted to check the other side of the hill, I said he could go ahead. I didn't know…"

"It's okay. He's not dead." Gideon said.

"No." Morgan muttered shaking his head. "The unsub… He was here… Again! So close, but I didn't see him. And if I did, I could've saved Reid."

"This is only a step closer. We know he knows what the police know. And he's close."

"He could be an officer." Morgan suddenly stood. "I saw him!"

"What?" Hotch asked, joining the conversation.

"I saw him. He didn't look the same as everybody else, and I thought about checking him out but decided not to." Morgan groaned, rubbing a hand on his face.

"What did he look like?" Prentiss asked, catching the last part of the conversation.

"Dark hair. Tall, bulky. Pale." Morgan said.

"Garcia, did you catch that?" Hotch asked, holding his phone up.

"Yeah…" She mumbled as she typed, "Got anything else, this is too broad."

"Look for people who have a terminal illness." Gideon said.

Hotch looked to him, confused.

"He acts like he's not afraid to be caught. Like he doesn't have long to live." Gideon explained.

Garcia's voice echoed from the speakers again, "I have 10 matches of the description where you are."

"Look for single parents with sons." Prentiss said.

"Nothing."

The team looked around as they thought of other possibilities. "Try brothers." Hotch said.

"I have… two… actually." Garcia drawled, "And one's in a psychiatric ward."

"What's the other ones name?" Hotch asked.

"Thomas Gardner."

* * *

Reid was slouched against a back wall, blood dripping from his shoulder and leg. He made sure to avoid major arteries, but it still hurt like hell.

Suddenly the heavy door screeched open, Reid's eyes bolted to the door. There he saw what was outside of it. Daylight. Which meant he was in some kind of above ground bomb shelter or something, but for now he had to believe that's where they were. "Screen time pretty boy." Tom drawled.

Reid flinched as he stepped closer. "What do you want me to say?"

"Same as last time… You have to mean it though."

"B-but you don't actually believe in satan." Reid said quietly.

"Of course not," Tom chuckled, "I just need their attention."

"You've got it." Reid said quickly, his voice wavering as the man pulled him away from the wall, into the center of the room. "By taking me, the FBI is alerted and they're listening to you."

"Prove it." Tom snarled.

"What?" Reid asked.

"Prove that their listening."

"H-how."

Tom smiled evilly at Reid. "I'll take care of it."

* * *

Gideon and the rest of the team sat in the conference room thinking over where Tom and his brother may be hiding. They went to their house to find it completely empty. Now they had to find where they were sleeping and where they were keeping Reid.

Suddenly the TV above them flickered to life. An image of a beaten Reid appeared. Only this time he was sitting with his back against a wall and a gun in his hand.

"Get Garcia on the phone and see if she can trace this." Hotch said to anybody.

Morgan responded first. "Baby girl I need you tracking a signal coming into the police office right now."

"Anything for you." She said before pausing to track. "I have a vicinity again. No certain location, this guy is good."

"Send us it."

"Gotcha. And this one is different. This video isn't being sent everywhere. It's only being transmitted to you."

"That means he's sending this message to us." Gideon muttered.

As they watched, Reid swallowed and looked up to the camera, looking very brave. "Hi guys."

JJ's eyes brimmed with tears, "What is this?" She whispered.

"I have to ask you a question." Reid continued. "I'd like to know if you're watching. And if you are, I need to know."

"Where is this going?" Hotch mumbled.

"So… I have a revolver here with one bullet in it. And if you're watching I'd like you to send me a message of telling me that you are before I shoot myself in the leg."

"He doesn't want him dead." Prentiss said. "He wants him suffering."

"Garcia, send a message to them." Gideon said.

"It's not that simple sir. I can't track them, therefor I can't reach them directly." Garcia's frantic voice came over the speaker.

"Do something." Gideon ordered.

"I can… I can set up a message on live TV, like last time." She offered.

"Do it."

Reid place the barrel of the gun on his upper thigh, pausing.

"Do it!" A voice shouted off to his left.

Reid glanced over, "This is only helping them find you easier."

"No it's not!" The man they presumed to be Tom yelled.

"Yes… it is… and when they find where we are," Reid paused to look at the camera, "they'll come down on you like a ton of bombs."

"There!" Prentiss exclaimed.

"He just told us where he is." Gideon said before standing and running out of the room.

"Just load it and pull the trigger you baby!" Tom yelled to Reid.

Reid sighed and loaded the gun.

"Garcia, where's that message?" Hotch asked.

"It's coming sir."

Reid tightened his eyes closed and pulled the trigger.

JJ whirled around and covered her eyes.

There was an empty click from the screen. The revolver changed loads as it switched to another spot for a bullet. That shot was empty.

"Garcia, let's go!" Hotch ordered.

"Got it!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands off the keyboard.

Reid loaded another shot.

"Stop." Tom ordered.

Reid glanced over to him and swallowed again.

"Witty message FBI." Tom chuckled off camera.

"What did you write Garcia?" Hotch asked.

"The great warrior will bring back the book of knowledge." Garcia said in a proud tone.

Prentiss didn't hide her smile. "Gideon means great warrior, correct?"

"Of course." Garcia laughed. "Later!" She said before hanging up.

Gideon came running back into the room with a map. "Here!" He said quickly, pointing to a certain place on the map. Just outside of where they were searching before.

"What is it?" Morgan asked, walking up to the map.

"There's an old bomb shelter here. Never used and one person owned it. I had to do some searching to find out it was even here." Gideon said.

"Who owned it?" Prentiss asked.

Gideon looked up from the map, "Alexander Gardner, Thomas's father."

* * *

**End of the second chapter! I did intend for them to find Reid in this chapter, but I didn't really feel like flowing over 3,500 words. So next chapter will be very interesting.**

**Thanks for reading and please review~ ER**


	3. Chapter 3

_I don't own Criminal Minds._

**Chapter 3**

"I did enjoy our little chat, FBI." Tom drawled, before shutting off the camera.

JJ swallowed. They just lost Reid again.

"We need to send some units out to the shelter." Hotch ordered. "JJ you stay here and keep the press down."

JJ nodded and walked out of the room into the main office, pulling out her phone.

Hotch nodded to the rest of the team, signaling them to head out. "Let's get our book back."

"Good job, pretty boy." Tom said wandering to the wall of knives.

Reid swallowed.

Tom lifted a large knife off the wall. "But…" He began.

Reid tensed as he stepped towards him. Pushing himself back against the wall he stuttered, "B-but what?"

"You told them they would find you." Tom said darkly.

Reid nodded slightly and pushed himself up against the wall.

"Sure… They may find you, but who said you had to be alive?" Tom cackled, raising the knife above his head to strike down on Reid.

"Please… Please don't" Reid begged, covering his face with his hands.

"Tom," Dalton's meek voice came from the door, stopping him.

"What now Dalton?!" Tom fumed.

"They're coming." Dalton said quietly.

"_What?_" Tom questioned, lowering his arm and turning to look at Dalton, Reid took his chance. He pushed himself along the wall, unable to stand.

"The cops… They're coming. I can hear them." Dalton said, noticing Reid, but not saying anything.

Tom looked over Dalton, anger filling his eyes. "But I'm not ready."

Reid used his one good arm and leg to push himself up to the wall of knives. He raised a shaking hand and grabbed one of the closest knives. Quickly he hid the weapon and crawled back to where he was before.

"Run Dalton. Run now and don't come back. I'll meet you at the clearing." Tom ordered.

Dalton shook his head. "I- I can't do that. You can't just ask me to leave you."

"I'm not asking you to Dalton! I'm telling you to!" Tom yelled.

Dalton looked at Reid a moment before turning and running.

"Good…" Tom mumbled before turning to Reid. "Now… I need to finish you off before the cops get here." Tom yelled, kicking him in the stomach. Making him fall to his side.

"Tom… You're going to die." Reid seethed through gritted teeth, as he clutched his stomach.

"Shut up!" He yelled, kicking him again.

Reid coughed as a little blood fell from his mouth. Tom raised the knife and brought it down quickly on Reid's upper arm.

Reid couldn't hold back his scream as it sliced through his skin. He rolled onto his back "You're going to die." He rasped again, searching for the knife hidden behind him.

"_Shut up!_" Tom yelled even louder, as he kicked him again. Reid had finally found the knife when he was thrown away from it.

"You…" He paused to cough, "You can't change it."

"No!" Tom screamed, "I could've! If you would've sent my message, I could've lived!" He lifted Reid by the collar of his jacket and punched him square in the eye.

"What was it Tom?" Reid whispered, pulling himself closer to Tom while still being held.

A disgusted look filled Tom's face as he dropped Reid and opened a locked box in the corner. There he pulled out a match and what looked like TNT.

"I'm going to die anyways. I might as well die now." He said quietly. Reid became alarmed, he had to find that knife, and soon.

"Tom…" Reid tried to stand but the cut on his leg disabled him. "Don't!" He coughed.

"And I might as well take you with me pretty boy." Tom said, granting Reid a sinister smile.

Reid shook his head. "What about Dalton?" He stalled. Crawling towards where he was before in an attempt to find his weapon.

"Dalton is ready." Tom said. "He hurt you all by himself."

"No, Tom, he didn't." Reid said, patting around on the floor behind him discretely.

"What?"

"I did it to myself." Reid continued. He had to buy more time with Tom, more time for his team to find him, and more time to find that damn knife.

"Why in the world would you do that?" Tom asked, not buying it.

"Because I knew what you would do to him if he didn't." Reid's hand tapped something sharp, he turned the knife and tried to find the handle.

Tom suddenly became very angry again. "You damn son of a bitch, tricking me! You think you can fool me!?" He asked as he kicked Reid over again.

"Shit!" Reid cursed, losing the knife.

Tom raised his knife and brought it down on Reid's upper leg.

Reid yelped, using one hand to grip his leg and the other to grab the knife.

"It's all over pretty boy, your friends didn't save you." Tom snarled, readying to bring down the final blow.

"I wouldn't speak so soon." Gideon's voice emanated from behind Tom, in the door way.

Tom whirled around and saw Morgan, Gideon, Prentiss, and Hotch standing inside of the door.

"Put the knife down Tom." Morgan said in a warning tone. Reid used all of his strength to push himself up onto his feet, ignoring the bursts of pain.

Tom looked back at Reid, seeing him with a knife he instinctively lunged at the boy. Reid held the knife out and let Tom fall into the blade. Knowing it was a fatal attack, Reid didn't bother to do any worse to the man. Suddenly there was a loud bang and Tom fell forward onto Reid, knocking him down. Everything went to black in an instant.

_Am I dead?!_ He asked himself, and he almost said it out loud, but he couldn't speak.

"No!...Get…" Was all Reid caught of what Morgan was shouting.

Suddenly he could see again, though it was blurry and the sounds were pounding in his ears. But the middle of his stomach felt light.

"Get him out of here." Hotch ordered, sounding muffled.

Tom's dead body was moved away and Reid was surrounded. "Oh my God…" Prentiss breathed, putting a hand over her mouth.

He felt Morgan lift his head. "Reid, I need you to keep breathing."

Reid wanted to say something witty, or tell them that humans breathe subconsciously, but he was too tired.

As Reid closed his eyes Gideon's strong voice broke through his haze, "Stay with us Reid."

Reid blinked, but he could just feel the sleep tugging him down. Or was that death?

He felt himself being lifted. By whom he didn't know, but he did know that he was being moved quickly.

"Careful for his stomach Morgan." Hotch said. "It's a deep wound."

Morgan placed him on an extremely flat surface, which he assumed was a gurney.

"Hey buddy," Morgan said as he was moved into the back of an ambulance.

Reid blinked and tried to stay awake.

"You don't need to talk, so just listen. When you were gone, everybody was looking for you. We didn't once stop."

"He's losing too much blood." One of the medics said.

Morgan tried to block them out. "We didn't forget about you… and we're not going to. But we'll all be pissed at you if you give up."

Reid blinked again, trying to stay awake. Suddenly he remembered. "Morgan." He said weakly.

"Don't talk kid." Morgan said.

"No… The- the clearing… Dalton…" Reid felt like he had to push really hard to speak.

Morgan looked out of the ambulance to the rest of the team and shouted at them to find the clearing that Dalton was at.

Happy he got the message, Reid leaned back. Suddenly a spasm of coughs shook his whole body.

"Reid- Reid, just hold on, okay?" Morgan's worried tone came over his coughs.

When his coughs stopped, Reid couldn't stop himself as he let the darkness pull him under.

There was a sudden monotone beep as his eyes closed, Reid guessed he was flat lining but couldn't do anything about it.

"Reid!? Reid!" He heard Morgan yell. "You're stronger than this Reid!"

Then… Reid heard nothing.

* * *

JJ came running into the hospital. "Where is he, how's he doing?!" She asked frantically, jogging up to Prentiss.

"He's in surgery, that's all we know." She said shaking her head. "He almost died in the ambulance, but they apparently were able to revive him."

JJ sighed and walked over to the rest of the team. They all looked equally worried, but most of all Morgan.

"How are you doing?" JJ asked quietly, sitting down next to him.

"Not very good." Morgan muttered.

JJ grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"I watched him die JJ." Morgan whispered. "And I couldn't help him."

"But he's alive now." She said.

Morgan shook his head, "For now." He said quietly, squeezing her hand tighter.

"Don't think like that. This is Reid." JJ offered.

After a few tense minutes a doctor came walking out of the O.R.

Everybody in the team stood. "How is he?" Prentiss asked.

The doctor looked at the group but locked eyes with Gideon in the end, "He barely pulled through. It's a miracle he's alive."

The team all gave a sigh of relief. "When can we see him?" Hotch asked.

"Where about to move him to a regular room, he'll need to stay here for a while, his wounds are pretty nasty." The doctor informed. "In about an hour he should be awake."

Hotch nodded and pulled out his phone to tell Garcia. The team waited around for another hour, which was definitely not as tense as the last.

Finally a nurse walked out holding a clipboard, "Anybody here for Doctor Spencer Reid?" She announced.

The whole team stood, now including Garcia.

The nurse smiled and ushered them into a hallway. They stopped in front of a room with a window to the hallway.

"He's not awake yet, but he should be waking up soon." The nurse said, smiling then walking away.

They team stepped into Reid's hospital room. JJ immediately walked up to his bedside and looked him over. His eye was bruised, and forehead, lip, and cheek where cut, and that was only his face. His upper right arm was wrapped in a white bandage, just like his upper thigh. His stomach also wrapped clad, but nobody could see that. And finally he had a bandage running under his collar bone. Not to mention all of the wires and monitors they had surrounding him.

JJ looked like she wanted to cry so Prentiss grabbed her hand and squeezed it, smiling at her. Morgan watched Reid's breathing, slow and steady; better than when he wasn't moving at all. Hotch and Gideon stood on the other side of the bed looking at Reid. Penelope didn't hesitate to pull up a chair and sit down next to his bed.

They waited a while longer, making themselves at home in Reid's little hospital room. Morgan turned on the TV to watch a football game with Hotch and Gideon, Penelope knitted something fuzzy, while JJ and Prentiss played cards.

Finally Reid stirred. Penelope was first to see, since she was sitting closest to him.

"Wakie wakie hot stuff." She whispered quietly next to his ear.

Reid scrunched his eyes closed before blinking them open, "What?" He whispered unintentionally.

Morgan, in a rolling chair, flew over to him. "Reid! My man!" He exclaimed.

Reid flinched slightly at the level of his voice, "Where am I?" He asked.

"Cancun." Prentiss said stepping up to the bed.

"Nice try…" He muttered, trying to push himself upwards.

"Woah woah careful." Morgan said, rushing forward to help him.

When Reid finally sat up he looked around the room and swallowed.

JJ smiled at him, "I'm so glad you're okay." She breathed before pulling him into a light hug.

Reid smiled, "Me too."

The team talked about how they had to track down the killer and how Reid was never allowed to leave again, and Reid promised he'd try not to. But overall he was happy to see his friends again.

When visiting hours ended Reid immediately fell asleep. Completely forgetting about Dalton and the fact that nobody could find him.

"Good morning Spencer." The nurse greeted as she stepped into his hospital room. She was carrying a tray of food.

"Morning." He groaned sitting up.

"Careful honey," The nurse warned walking up to him. She took out his IV and messed around with it a little before returning it to its spot in his arm. "Now, here's your breakfast. You didn't get any food in your system for 48 hours so you need to eat slowly. So if you eat too and don't pay attention-"

"it's easy to override the system and eat more than what the body is calling for." Reid finished, "I got it, thank you." He said smiling and nodding at her.

She smiled and set the tray of food down in front of him, "Be careful _doctor_." She then waved and walked out.

Reid looked down at his food and frowned. He was missing something. He was forgetting something, something important. He shrugged and slowly ate his food.

Later on Morgan and Garcia stopped by to say hello and bring him a couple books. They spoke for a while about useless things and later left because Hotch called them in for paperwork. Grudgingly, they left.

Reid slept a little more then found himself at dinner. The days were passing to slow, he was bored.

* * *

Gideon stepped into the conference room, meeting the eyes of all of his team mates. "What's new?" He asked.

"We're about to start closing up the case file." JJ said, handing him a manila folder.

"Great, what happened to Dalton?" He asked as he flipped open the file.

"I'm sorry?" JJ asked, confused.

Gideon looked up, "Dalton, the younger brother. Prentiss and Hotch went after him."

JJ knitted her eyebrows, "It doesn't mention him in the file." She said.

"Have you heard from Prentiss or Hotch?" Gideon asked, dropping the folder on the table.

"No, but I saw them here." JJ replied, "I think they're over there." She pointed to another office.

Gideon walked into the office the two were sitting in. "What happened to Dalton?" He asked, alerting the two.

"What do you mean? The cops said they got him." Hotch said.

"So, he was caught when you got to him." Gideon confirmed. Prentiss and Hotch nodded at the same time. "Did you see him?" He asked.

"No, the cops said they had it handled." Prentiss replied, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Why?"

"He's not mentioned in the file." Gideon muttered.

"Do you think that he's still out there?" Hotch asked.

Gideon rubbed a hand over his face, frustrated. "I'm sure he's still out there. And I'm sure he's angry."

* * *

Reid woke happy as could be. Finally came the day that he could leave the hospital. The doctor came in and made him sign a bunch of papers and told all the precautions, blah blah blah. Finally he was given his clothes and was able to leave. Reid dressed and hurried down the hospital corridor, not stopping for anything. He walked into the parking lot and pulled out his cell phone. As he dialed Morgan's number he squinted against the sunlight. That's when he realized it was the first time he'd stood in sunlight in three days. Truthfully, he didn't like it. He was never a fan of the sun, to many dangerous radiations and scientific issues. Overall it wasn't very good for you.

"Morgan." Derek's greeting came over the phone.

"Hey, it's Reid, are you able to pick me up from the hospital? I don't exactly have a car." Reid asked.

"JJ isn't there yet?" Morgan replied.

"No, I haven't seen her."

"Hotch sent her down there to pick you up two hours ago. She should be there."

"I'll call her." Reid said, hanging up. He punched in JJ's speed dial and listened to the phone ring until he heard the click of an answer. "Hey, JJ-" He began but was stopped when an unexpected voice came over the phone.

"You killed him."

"Excuse me?" Reid asked, knitting his eyebrows, the voice sounded oddly familiar.

"He's dead because of you."

"Who is this? Where's JJ?" Reid asked, becoming concerned.

"I had to hurt her. Tom told me to."

Suddenly Reid knew who it was. "Dalton."

* * *

**Thanks for reading chapter three of my story! I actually wrote this one awhile ago, I just didn't get a chance to upload it, school started on the 19 and I hate life. Screw you high school.**

**Thanks for reading and please review~ ER**


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